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UK secures vital rollover trade deal with Canada

24
Nov '20

Pic: Shutterstock

The United Kingdom and Canada have locked in their existing trading relationship, worth £20 billion, and agreed to begin negotiating a new more ambitious trade deal as early as next year. In a November 21 video call, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau settled on an ‘agreement in principle’ to roll over current European Union-Canada trading arrangements.

The prime ministers were joined by UK international trade secretary Liz Truss and her Canadian counterpart, minister of small business, export promotion and international trade Mary Ng, according to a UK government press release.

Today’s agreement to rollover provisions of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) gives certainty for UK businesses exporting goods and services to Canada worth £11.4 billion. It will support the British automotive manufacturing and food and drink industries which between them provide jobs for more than half a million people across the United Kingdom.

Overall, an estimated £42 million tariff burden on UK exports has been saved. The benefits locked in under the agreement reached today include tariff-free trade on 98 per cent of goods that can be exported to Canada.

UK producers will continue to benefit from zero tariffs on many agricultural and seafood exports. Last year the United Kingdom exported £344 million worth agri-food goods to Canada.

Without the continuity agreement, Canadian food products such as maple syrup, biscuits and salmon could have been more expensive for British consumers as they would face taxes of up to 8 per cent when entering the United Kingdom under the UK Global Tariff.

The deal secured today provides the foundation for both countries to negotiate a new trade deal that will improve on the existing EU-Canada agreement and will be tailored for the British economy with the potential to go further in new areas like digital trade, women’s economic empowerment and the environment.

“Our negotiators have been working flat out to secure trade deals for the UK, and from as early next year we have agreed to start work on a new, bespoke trade deal with Canada that will go even further in meeting the needs of our economy,” Prime Minister Johnson said.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

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